Cooking En Pappillote

Did this as a paid class in April and everyone had good time and we ate way way too much each time I did it.  Sheesh, it is soo good how can anyone not eat a ton of the good stuff.  Anyway, baking at high temperature while sealed in a parchment paper container is pretty healthy way of doing things.  I admit that I do it a little different (BUT REALLY, DON'T I ALWAYS DO IT A BIT DIFFERENTLY?) and I never want to waste anything.  So I discovered that if i put a layer of cooked pasta down on the paper first, then all the juices that come out of the fish or chicken and the vegetables get soaked up by the pasta and it becomes a truly mind blowing dish.  Well, that is a direct quote from one of those above here at the class.  We all ate most of what was cooked and had a great time. 

Grains again, but one you never get tired of!

Always ready to help out when I can, Marjorie asked me to do a class about the Macrobiotic Diet.  Since the basis of going Macro is to get 70 % of you food from whole grains, I though that this class would be excellent to introduce her to some of the stuff that I sell, and how quick, easy and delicious cooking grains can be.  Sort of repeated two of the grains from last time, did Mushroom quinoa with red veggie curry to go over it.  Then this fantastic Bulgur dish with lots of caramalized onions, roasted tomatoes as garnish on top of the cooked bulgur.  Then my brown rice done in the interior Mexico fashion with carrots, peas, onions, bell peppers and lots of chili powder and other spices.  When partially cooked, we took off the pressure cooker lid and made indentations in the tip of the rice where we then cracked an egg.  A covering of cheese and 2 more minutes under pressure and it was very cool. 

Pizza Fun with Real Whole Wheat Bread

This is always the most popular bread class that I do.  So I did it twice in the first two weeks of May and had some people come.  Maybe to hot, or the rain scared some others away from the classes, but those that were here all enjoyed the stuff we made, and we all talked about how easy it is to make and eat healthy foods.  Well, they all said that I make it look easy.  In the first class, we had these two wonderful people here to help me eat some whole wheat crusted pizzas.  We made thin crust ones, and a thick crust one as well.  The thick crust was the breakfast pizza with beaten eggs and hot sauce used instead of a sauce.  Then lots of cheese, Bacon, onions, peppers and it was spectacular.  We then made a traditional pizza using my 20 minute marinara of which the recipe is on the website.  Then with sliced sausages, peppers, onions and lots of Mozzarella and Parmesan.  Then the really nice Asiago, smoked salmon and capers pizza that we served with pickled red onions which it sounds kind of odd, but it really does make the pizza.  Then a mushroom pizza, and we had a nice discussion about chemical additives in our food supply while we ate most of the pizza up.  I was stuffed, they said they were, so all in all, a successful little class.  The class from Wednesday the 11th was similar, just didn't take a picture. 

Thursday April 14 Grains Class. Extra Special Stuff

Take about a dozen grape tomatoes and cut in half.  Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil and one of balsamic vinegar and season with fresh ground black pepper.  As an option you can sprinkle a bit of organic evaporated cane juice on them when you place them cut side up on a baking sheet and bake in 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a small pressure cooker, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil and cook a half an onion in medium dice, a couple of jalapenos that have been seeded and roughly chopped, and a couple of cloves of garlic.  When the onion is translucent, add one cup bulgar wheat.  Toast a minute and then add 1 ¾ cup stock.  Bring to a boil and put the pressure lid on, bring to pressure and cook for 12 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow the pressure to reduce naturally.  Take a half an onion and slice into thin slices.  Cook in skillet in 3 tablespoons olive oil until browned.  Sprinkle lightly with a ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.  Squeeze a half a lemon over the onions and allow juice to evaporate.  Remove from heat.  When pressure releases, remove lid and place 6 oz. of fresh spinach into pan, replace lid and allow spinach to wilt for 5 minutes.  Stir the spinach in well.  Fluff the bulgar and place on serving tray, place the tomatoes on top, then top with the browned onions.   Add some cilantro or parsley with some sliced scallions as a garnish and this dish is spectacular.  I had a bottle of Musto on hand so I added a couple tablespoons of it to the onions along with the lemon juice.  It added an extra bit of sweetness that was spectacular.  All that were here for the class loved it.  I also made some really nice Quinoa and a delicious chicken curry to serve over it.  Yummmm. 

Ravioli Class

Pasta Class, some fun with new friends

 I have been wanting to just do a couple of dishes with just pasta and so at the end of the month I did.  One of my favorite pasta dishes of all time is Carbonara. So Simple, yet so wonderful.  I took a package of my Roasted Red Pepper Linguine and cooked it.  Meanwhile I browned 4 strips bacon in large skillet.  When bacon is browned, I removed it and chopped it.  In same skillet, saute a half cup of finely diced onion until translucent.  Add the cooked pasta and pour into the pan, 3 eggs beaten with a quarter cup milk or half and half, and a quarter cup shredded Parmesan cheese.  Add a half cup of the water the pasta was cooked in and then stir stir stir until the eggs set and a thick sauce forms.  Turn onto a serving platter and place the chopped bacon in the middle and top with shaved Parmesan, and lots of black pepper.  You can add peas, that is pretty traditional, or I usually add sliced scallions as well. 

 Wild Mushroom Linguine is the base of this quick and delicious dish.  I sauteed some sliced celery, onion and yellow peppers along with some mushrooms.  I added a bit of Reisling to the pan and it smelled heavenly.  I cooked the Linguine and added it to the skillet and then turned it out onto the platter.  Some shaved Parmesan again on top and it just tasted incredible.  Simple, fresh ingredients, whole wheat pasta, some olive oil and Parmesan.  It was very healthy eating.  And spectacularly tasty as evidenced by the happy faces of those that were there to enjoy the excellent food with me. 

 Now look, my hair is not that funny looking Carol. 

These ladies are SLUTS.  Yes it is true, look close at their name badges.  True SLUTS.  Ah, I believe that the world would be a better place if we had more wonderful, wholesome, interesting and fabulous SLUTS like these ladies and the group that they were here with.  Hey, I was in heaven, I had ten SLUTS in my store at once and loved every minute of it!

Basic Bread and PIZZA!

Tuesday, March 22, we made pizza.  And of course since it was me making the pizza, it was not your usual pizza.  My philosophy, I quote it a lot, comes from the old Monty Python show, "And now for something completely different"  First off, I made a basic bread dough.  From this, we made a few loaves of bread.  Then because it is for pizza, we added more whole wheat flour to the dough to give it some strength and stiffness.  Rolled out two deep dish ones and set them aside to rise awhile.  Then, I rolled out a thin crust pizza and placed it on my peel.  Yes, it's true, and an old joke, but I nicknamed my peel, Emma.  I had made some of my 20 minute marinara and we spooned on a big amount.  Lots of Mozzarella and then I sliced some Eichmann's smoked sausage into thin rounds and placed them onto the cheese.  Then I took 2 jalapenos, sliced off the top, cored them and sliced into slices.  These I put on top of each sausage slice.  Baked in the oven on a pizza stone until crisp, it was spectacular.  Onto one of the deep dish crusts, I spread out some medium salsa.  Then I spread on a layer of the very popular Mexican Style 3 Cheese Blend.  On top of that, I put a bunch of my carnitas that were left over from a previous class.  Then a bunch of thin sliced onions and red bell peppers. 

The last one was somewhat unique.  I made sure the edges of the crust were higher up the pan all the way around.  Then I beat 3 eggs and poured them on.  Spread them around and covered with Mozzarella.  Then added some chopped bacon, cooked potatoes, sort of a breakfast pizza.  This was my favorite.